Meanwhile, as the Uchiha Clan trained in taijutsu.
Sarutobi Hiruzen received the latest news about the Uchiha Clan.
"What? The Uchiha Clan has started training in taijutsu?"
"Even the ordinary clan members are training?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help lighting another pipe.
He had lost count of how many times today he'd started smoking because of Uchiha Fugaku.
Had the other man also discovered the potential of taijutsu?
But he clearly didn't have the Eight Inner Gates Formation. And even if he did, training like this still wouldn't be advisable.
After all, not everyone had a talent for taijutsu.
It made no sense. None at all. Sarutobi Hiruzen could understand even if the entire Uchiha Clan trained in ninjutsu.
But for the Uchiha Clan to neglect genjutsu and Fire Release, fine—but to fixate on taijutsu? Was something wrong with their heads?
The key was that it wasn't some other elder or clan member leading the training. It was Uchiha Fugaku.
And Uchiha Fuyu was the person who'd made him suffer a major loss. He also possessed a Mangekyō Sharingan on par with Uchiha Madara's.
Could taijutsu training be connected to the Sharingan?
At the thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help feeling troubled. For now, only Uchiha Fugaku was strong. As long as he died, the Uchiha Clan wouldn't be anything to fear. But if the entire clan grew strong, that would be a real problem.
At that point, it would be hard to say whether the Uchiha Clan was subordinate to the village or the village was subordinate to the Uchiha Clan.
What a headache!
Still, he had to find a taijutsu specialist to observe them.
But to be safe, he'd watch for another couple of days.
What if they'd just gotten the idea today?
Besides, Might Guy was out on a mission right now. With only Hyuga Hiashi, Sarutobi Hiruzen still wouldn't feel entirely at ease.
After half a day of taijutsu training, most of the clan members had already finished and gone home.
Many of them had other things to take care of, after all. The training Uchiha Fugaku had assigned was only enough to give their bodies some exercise and keep them healthy.
Most of those still there were ninjas—almost all of them had awakened the Sharingan, along with a few people who hadn't been able to keep their mouths shut that morning.
But Uchiha Fugaku had other things to do next, so he couldn't stay and watch them train.
Fortunately, he had his beloved eldest son.
He left the Military Police Force's affairs to Izumi. As for leading the training, his son Itachi was the obvious choice.
With that in mind, Uchiha Fugaku walked up to Uchiha Itachi, blocking the sunlight shining down on him.
"454...456..."
????
Seeing someone appear in front of him, Uchiha Itachi immediately snapped back to attention.
He stopped training and stood up.
"Father, is something the matter?"
Seeing how well Uchiha Itachi understood him, Uchiha Fugaku felt delighted.
Then, with a beaming smile, he handed Uchiha Itachi a list.
"Itachi, I have some clan business to take care of. I'm leaving you in charge of supervising their taijutsu training."
"I'm giving you authority over them."
"But they must finish their assigned training. If they don't—"
"Then you'll do twice the amount they didn't finish."
????
Uchiha Itachi was dumbfounded by Uchiha Fugaku's words.
What was that supposed to mean?
Why should I do twice the training they didn't finish?
I'm not doing this.
Although Uchiha Itachi was deeply reluctant, he looked at Uchiha Fugaku's beaming face and ultimately swallowed his objections, accepting the task.
"Father, I'll make sure the task gets done."
Seeing his eldest son accept the task, Uchiha Fugaku nodded in satisfaction and headed back to change clothes.
After all, he still had to teach the others how to cook later, and he couldn't do that dressed like this.
As soon as Uchiha Fugaku left, the clan members who'd already had their taijutsu training stood up.
After all, your dad, Uchiha Fugaku, had the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. They couldn't beat him, so they'd put up with it.
But you were just Uchiha Itachi—a junior, a traitor—and you thought you could keep an eye on them like this?
As if!
Besides, the clan leader had said that if they didn't finish their training, Uchiha Itachi would be the one punished.
In that case, Uchiha Itachi could do it for them.
With that in mind, while the other Uchiha clan members were still watching to see what would happen,
a few troublemakers immediately stepped forward and tried to leave without even saying a word.
Watching their backs as they prepared to go, Uchiha Itachi clenched his fists.
Then Uchiha Itachi appeared in front of them and asked calmly,
"Have you finished your training?"
The most arrogant one among them, Akame Uchiha, replied,
"So what if we haven't? You think you can order us around?"
Uchiha Itachi didn't attack right away. Instead, he said,
"This is an order from my father. Are you really going to disobey?"
When Uchiha Itachi invoked Uchiha Fugaku, the underling beside Akame Uchiha tugged at him and whispered,
"Brother Akame, he is the clan leader's son, after all. Let's show him some respect and go back to training."
But Akame Uchiha was stubborn and paid no attention to the underling beside him.
So what if he was the clan leader's son? He was a traitor who'd once betrayed the clan. Did Akame Uchiha fear a traitor?
"So what if we disobey? If the clan leader were here, I'd listen to him. But you can forget it, traitor."
(•́へ•́╬)
Even though Uchiha Itachi had expected to hear it, the word "traitor" still sent a surge of anger through him.
But Uchiha Itachi didn't let it show.
His goal was to make Akame Uchiha go back to training, not to defeat him.
Still, Uchiha Itachi had no intention of wasting any more words on him.
"Tsukuyomi."
"Where is this? Traitor, what did you do to me?"
Looking at Akame Uchiha, bound in front of him, Uchiha Itachi spoke with a long blade in his hand.
"Didn't you say you didn't want to train?"
"Fine. If you can last three days and three nights against this blade, I'll do the rest of your training for you today."
????
Then the Tsukuyomi Space rang with Akame Uchiha's screams and curses.
Before you continue